Mariners 2023 Recap: Re-visiting 4 Negative Pivotal Moments from this Season

Seattle residents know better than anyone else that it's not always blue skies over here in the Emerald City. What were some of the more tragic events that occurred this year?

Cleveland Guardians v Seattle Mariners
Cleveland Guardians v Seattle Mariners | Steph Chambers/GettyImages
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2. Jarred Kelenic Breaks His Foot

Mariners fans have been waiting for Kelenic to breakout since he became a part of the minor league system. After a tumultuous start to his major-league career, it seemed like it was finally happening. In the first month of 2023, he slashed an insane .308/.366/.615 and seemed to be a more effective bat than even Julio Rodriguez. He cooled down significantly in May (.727 OPS) and even more in June (.588) OPS before finally allowing his frustration to boil over, kicking a water cooler and breaking his foot.

His injury left a gap in left field that was eventually filled by Dominic Canzone, but it was clear that any momentum he had from the start of the season was officially gone. He made just 75 plate appearances in the second half of the season, posting a .707 OPS and slowly but surely regressing to slightly below league-average.

2023 Kelenic is still a significant improvement over the .141/.221/.313 player we saw in 2022, but if he had been able to refocus in a more effective way during his summer slump, he might've been able to rediscover what made him so great in the spring.

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